29
Chapter 29
"Wake up. How long do you plan on sleeping?"
The words came suddenly.
Rubia rubbed her eyes with a dazed expression... only to realize she had been unconscious this whole time.
Instantly, her face turned pale.
It was only natural.
There was a limit to being carefree—losing consciousness right in front of the Leader of the Empire's most fearsome terrorist organization.
It was essentially the same as throwing her life away.
"I-I'm sorry."
Moreover, Rubia was currently sitting in a chair. In other words, the Leader had personally carried her unconscious body here.
Worried that she might have offended him, Rubia spoke while trembling.
However, the response she received was unexpectedly gentle.
He asked why she would apologize for such a thing, mentioning that he only said it because dangerous things were happening outside and she was sleeping so defenselessly.
Incredibly kind words.
For a moment, Rubia's mind went blank.
'......Maybe he's a better person than I thought?'
Since the term "gaslighting" didn't exist in this world, Rubia couldn't know that she was unknowingly being subjected to it.
'Come to think of it, he's always been kind to the members.'
He had calmly threatened to kill her right in front of her, but that was before she officially joined the organization.
After receiving the black robe, she hadn't been particularly threatened.
Thinking about it, he actually seemed to look out for her. She was just unilaterally terrified of that monster-like Leader.
Just because someone is strong doesn't mean they lack humanity—that might just be prejudice.
With that thought, she looked back on his actions so far, and Ian began to seem like a surprisingly sensible and kind person.
Perhaps... there was no need to be afraid of him.
It was the moment Rubia was about to get up from her chair with that thought.
"......?"
Bewilderment spread across Rubia's face.
It wasn't unreasonable.
Because right before her eyes, there were more than dozens of people.
"Ah, these people are the slaves I just rescued."
Her mind went blank for a moment.
She couldn't make sense of what that meant at all.
Slaves?
Rescued?
But while Rubia was still in shock, Ian continued his explanation.
The slave traders fled and left them behind, so he rescued them while he was at it.
Ciel helped with the search,
Rien broke the restraints,
and he dispelled the slave brands. He said that by proceeding like this, they managed to rescue over forty people in an instant.
Her brain simply couldn't keep up with the situation.
Dispel a slave brand?
Was that even logically possible?
No, putting that aside for now.
"W-What were you thinking, doing something like......."
Stealing from the Black Market was a problem that simply couldn't be overlooked.
It wasn't for no reason that Rubia had panicked over this Black Market terrorist incident. Despite its name, the Black Market was an incredibly safe place.
After all, it was run by none other than that 'Archmage'.
No one would even dream of daring to break the rules. How could anyone possibly go up against an Archmage?
That was why no one ever stole anything from the Black Market.
......Yet the Leader had just outright stolen dozens of slaves.
Furthermore, somehow he had cleanly erased even their slave brands.
This current situation.
It was obvious as day how the Archmage would view this.
"For now, I'll go and try to explain the circumstances somehow!"
Rubia said as she abruptly stood up from her seat.
If she acted now, there was still a chance.
It was a bit too early to give up. She had to quickly explain the situation to the Archmage and apologize somehow.
She wasn't confident she could change the Archmage's mind, but for the sake of survival, what wouldn't she do?
It was the moment Rubia was about to rush out to quickly find the Archmage with those thoughts.
"...Where are you suddenly going again?"
Ian grabbed her.
His expression was incredibly calm. As if he didn't understand the severity of the situation.
Because of that, Rubia quickly continued her explanation.
Eloquence was an inevitable necessity for an entrepreneur.
It was a simple task to explain the gravity of the situation in a way that wouldn't offend the Leader as much as possible.
And after hearing all of that, Ian pondered for a moment... then opened his mouth.
"You don't need to worry about that."
"......Huh?"
"That person is dead, you see."
For a moment, Rubia's mind went blank.
Because no matter how she thought about it, the meaning of his words was clear.
Sure enough,
The Leader spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Because I killed him. You don't need to worry about it."
Rubia's face turned pale.
In a way, it was only natural.
The man was casually telling her that he had killed the Archmage.
The very Archmage that even the Empire was hesitant to touch.
......She simply couldn't understand it.
After all, there wasn't a single scratch on the man's body.
The implication of that was obvious.
An overwhelming gap.
A one-sided disparity in power existed between the two, so great that it couldn't even be called a fight.
She could feel cold sweat running down her back.
She had known it all along. She at least knew that the Leader before her was a powerhouse beyond imagination.
However, even knowing that, she couldn't help but be horrified.
Just what kind of monster could utterly overwhelm an Archmage like that?
It was impossible to comprehend with common sense.
"Ah, come to think of it, a few of the people we rescued said they would like to join us. Could you perhaps lend us a mansion?"
The man asked as politely as always.
Given the current situation.
There was only one course of action she could take.
"O-Of course! I'll build you an entirely new building! Ahahaha......."
...Rubia felt like crying right then and there.
******
I couldn't help but reflect on my attitude once again.
A situation where not a single decent person existed among the rescued slaves.
I had grumbled about having terrible luck with people after seeing that....... But thinking about it now, I was completely deceiving myself.
To say I had terrible luck with people when I had such amazing companions.
Where else in the world would you find such an absurd remark?
'Just how generous can a person be?'
I couldn't help but have that thought.
I thought it would be an unreasonable request just to house these people in the mansion, but Ms. Rubia cheerfully offered to build an entirely new building for them.
'I was wondering how we were going to take in all thirty of them.'
The thirty people who had decided to accompany me from the rescued slaves.
Even after sending off those who had families or places to return to, a surprisingly large number of people remained.
Most of them were children with nowhere to go.
Children with no way to support themselves and no one to protect them, facing a completely uncertain future.
The younger the age, the easier it is to train mana, so if we taught them well, they would definitely be a great help.
But the problem was that we didn't have a suitable place to house and teach these kids.
Yet, Ms. Rubia readily declared that she would provide that space for us.
Even before I could mention that I would compensate her by providing potion recipes.
A smile naturally crept onto my lips.
"I'm really glad to have met you, Ms. Rubia."
I expressed my gratitude to her as I said that. Since I was still wearing my mask, more than half of my face was hidden.
I couldn't see Ms. Rubia's expression, but I was certain she was wearing an incredibly kind smile.
'I wonder just how many times I've received her help.'
Let's make sure to take care of her first as soon as we get back.
Come to think of it, it was thanks to Ms. Rubia that we were even able to come to this Black Market.
We only managed to get in because she provided the entrance tickets just in time.
Thanks to Ms. Rubia being a noble, we could take the train and arrive here on schedule.
Thanks to the elixirs Ms. Rubia supplied, I was able to lay the foundation to defeat Asel.
It was actually harder to find a part of this journey where her help wasn't involved.
From the important item known as the Holy Sword to over twenty artifacts. They were results I absolutely could not have achieved without her.
I really must have good luck when it comes to companions.
Ciel, Rien, and Ms. Rubia. Each and every one of them was so amazing that I felt unworthy.
Besides, I just couldn't find any decent people this time around, but there were many kids who showed great potential, just like the blind girl I met back then.
"T-Then are we going back now?"
While I was lost in those random thoughts, Ms. Rubia carefully asked.
Certainly....
We had accomplished all of our objectives.
We had gathered everything we needed and obtained everything we could.
However.......
'There's still one more thing I need to do.'
That went without saying.
I do have a conscience, after all.
Why would I be so callous as to exploit the name of Black Fang and not give anything in return?
Furthermore, if the revolution truly succeeds, there's a high chance the Mastermind would be dealt with as well. There were more than enough reasons to help Black Fang.
"Ciel, can you leave a message using your mana by any chance?"
It was time to lend Black Fang a little helping hand.